In recent years advances in technology, as well as ever-evolving tastes in style, have led to substantial changes in the design of automobiles. One of the changes involves the complexity of the electrical systems within automobiles, particularly alternative fuel (or propulsion) vehicles that utilize voltage supplies, such as hybrid and battery electric vehicles. Such alternative fuel vehicles typically use one or more electric motors, often powered by batteries perhaps in combination with another actuator, to drive the wheels. These vehicles also include countless non-propulsion devices, such as air conditioning, lighting, and entertainment systems, that drain power from the on-board energy supplies.
Typically, the control systems on automobiles will simply allow both the propulsion actuators (e.g., traction motors) and non-propulsion loads (e.g., the air conditioner) to consume power at the same time, with no regard for the effect the use of the non-propulsion load has on the driving range of the vehicle. This is usually the case even when the energy remaining in the on-board energy storage devices (e.g., batteries or fuel tanks) drops to very low levels. As a result, the occupants of the vehicle may get stranded, as the vehicle does not have the range required to reach the desired destination.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide vehicular propulsion systems and methods for managing vehicular propulsion systems that increase the driving range of the vehicle by controlling the power consumed by auxiliary devices. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.